1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method of enabling software interactions including a computer-implemented method and system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The foundational patent received for this field of invention is U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,831, entitled Method And Apparatus For Constructing A Networking Database And System. This is understood to be the method SixDegrees.com used to build its social networking database. It asked a user to specify a relationship between themselves and another person. It then asked the other person to confirm this relationship. In this manner, relationships were offered and then either confirmed or denied. Many social networking sites are understood to have used this method. Friendster is an example. Friendster requires the following interactions to create a mutual relationship between two people: 1) a user locates another member and asks for friendship 2) the other member receives communication 3) the other member either receives or denies the confirmation of the relationship. If they confirm the relationship, the users are stored as mutual friends within the database.
The invention described here attempts to provide a more rapid procedure for people to extend their network. Consider the following scenario: John uploads a photo gallery to a website that uses social software, but he only has one friend on the site and most of his friends are not members of the site. In the traditional model, if he wants his friends to see his gallery they first have to become members, and then one party has to initiate a friend request. After that has been done, the other party must confirm. At this point John can point them to the photo gallery.
Many social networking sites do employ a process where an individual can invite people to their network, and upon join they will be made friends, but this typically requires the individual to invite the user from within the system.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of creating a networking database and system proactively.